Freaks

Name: Freaks
Genre: Drama, Horror
Released: February 20, 1932
Duration: 64 min
Rating: 80
Cast: Daisy Earles, Daisy Hilton, Harry Earles, Henry Victor, Leila Hyams

1932

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Ratings

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7.6

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7.6	Your Score
7.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Ratings

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Freaks

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Movie Details & Credits

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: February 20, 1932 | Passed

Starring: Daisy Earles, Daisy Hilton, Harry Earles, Henry Victor, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates, Rose Dione, Violet Hilton, Wallace Ford

Summary: A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

Director: Tod Browning

Genre(s): Drama, Horror

Rating: Passed

Runtime: 64 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Mike Clark

The most un-MGM movie that the studio ever made gave Dracula director Tod Browning the chance to tell a story that horrified audiences. [13 Aug 2004, p.4E]

100

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

Freaks is filled with poignancy; it offers a premonition of eugenics, as well as a provocative comparison with the alienated condition of women and the freakish nature of all showbiz celebrity. It is a work of genius. Read full review

Pauline Kael

A true nightmare.

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Although slow-moving and uneven, Freaks is one of Browning's more consistently fine films, a landmark still worth seeing. Read full review

Josh Larsen

A piercing dignity defines this infamous Tod Browning picture, in which a community of circus sideshow performers exact revenge on the trapeze beauty who exploits one of their own. Read full review

Keith Phipps

Much of what makes Freaks so unsettling comes from its refusal to treat its stars as, well, freaks. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Freaks is sumptuously produced, admirably directed, and no cost was spared. But Metro failed to realize that even with a different sort of offering the story still is important. Here it is not sufficiently strong to get and hold the interest, partly because interest cannot easily be gained for a too fantastic romance. Read full review

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User Reviews

mumuzinho

Nov 4, 2020

bom, um filme meio perturbador, personagens meio chatos mas meio bons, roteiro sensacional e incrível, atuações meio ruins.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Gamzguy17

Aug 21, 2021

Hmmm...this is a tough one to talk about on a critical level. 1932's "Freaks" is an oddball short film (1 hour long!), but not for its obvious use of circus performers and deformity as a message, but for how it structures itself in telling its short story. A story that, to be honest, doesHmmm...this is a tough one to talk about on a critical level. 1932's "Freaks" is an oddball short film (1 hour long!), but not for its obvious use of circus performers and deformity as a message, but for how it structures itself in telling its short story. A story that, to be honest, does not warrant one to see it again and again. I'm also left confused with what it was trying to say because of its odd approach to story telling. I'm glad to have seen this curious piece of film history, but I don't think it will appeal to many who aren't film buffs.… Expand

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HellHoleHorror

Feb 15, 2022

There are obvious problems with this movie. The sound is so bad at times that I had to put subtitles on to understand the dialogue. Some shots are horrifically exposed; the movement is poor, dirt on the print horrific and jump cuts regular. But this is over eighty years old. Quite good forThere are obvious problems with this movie. The sound is so bad at times that I had to put subtitles on to understand the dialogue. Some shots are horrifically exposed; the movement is poor, dirt on the print horrific and jump cuts regular. But this is over eighty years old. Quite good for the age. I don't think that they tried to shock and sicken with this film. They wanted to create a drama behind the scenes of a circus. It turns out to be a perfectly paced and brilliantly developed. There are few films that I can think of that take this kind of theme seriously. This is a fantastic and enjoyable horror drama. It is what you think that they will do that is scarier than what you see. It has a satisfying ending and good pace where you feel the relationships. I didn't notice the disabilities. Enjoyable but not something that you would watch often due to tone and technical.… Expand

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